Plans to partly demolish Newcastle shopping centre set to be approved

Plans to partly demolish an empty shopping centre are set to be approved – as a consultation on its redevelopment has been launched.

Developer Capital&Centric is working with Newcastle Borough Council on the regeneration of York Place, as well as the nearby Ryecroft site and Midway car park.

An application for the partial demolition of York Place is due to be approved by the council's planning committee next Tuesday. The building will be stripped back to its primary concrete frame, to allow its conversion into 50 flats along with ground floor shops, bars and cafes. The plans for York Place also include a new music venue and a green public square.

Midway car park will be converted into new homes, with a three-floor atrium and on-site parking, while there are plans for further apartments and family homes on Ryecroft, along with a 110-room hotel and community parkland. Capital&Centric, which expects to submit planning applications for the three sites this summer, has now launched a five-week consultation to give people the chance to have their say on the proposals.

Midway car park will be converted into new homes if the plans are approved (LDRS).

Martin Crews, development director at Capital&Centric, said: "We're taking a joined-up approach to revitalising Newcastle-under-Lyme and want local people to get involved. We're striking a careful balance between retaining the charm and local character of the town centre today, whilst writing an exciting new chapter for the future.

"Retaining and repurposing much of the existing structures at both Midway and York Place allows us to not only deliver unique designs that the town can be proud of, but we can also save stacks of embodied carbon when compared to starting from scratch."

Council leader Simon Tagg added: "Capital&Centric has a national reputation for turning unloved buildings and derelict land into homes, workspaces, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants – often using eye-catching architecture with the latest green energy ideas. Once the redevelopments of Ryecroft, York Place and Midway are complete, Newcastle's town centre will be transformed so it's important that residents get involved in the process now at its formative stages."

York Place sits within Newcastle's conservation area, and the report to the planning committee says that it would normally be expected for redevelopment plans to be considered at the same time as demolition, to 'ensure that no unsightly gap sites remain for a long period of time'. But officers believe that with the plans expected this summer, the demolition would only result in a 'low and temporary level of less than substantial harm' to the conservation area.

Part of York Place, in Newcastle town centre, will be demolished as part of the redevelopment (Google).

Andrew Pass, of John Pass jewellers in the town centre, has written to the borough council in support of the proposals. He said: "We would like to vocalise our complete support for this project. Furthermore, it should be actioned quickly to ensure further degradation of the town doesn't occur. Well done to the investors – let's do everything we can to welcome them into the town."

The borough council has been awarded £11 million from the government's Future High Street Fund for town centre regeneration, including £3.7m for Ryecroft and £3m for York Place.

A consultation event on the town centre plans will take place at Castletown Distillery, in Hick Street, Newcastle on Friday, May 3, from 3pm to 8pm. People can also have their say by filling in an online questionnaire here.

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